


Temperature

by taxidermistsoul



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 07:47:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12076689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taxidermistsoul/pseuds/taxidermistsoul
Summary: Two people realize something about their relationship.





	Temperature

The rub of the sheets on skin felt wrong, they were almost wet to the touch and their comfort waned into a nuisance. The humidity clung to every surface in the room, the condensation on the mirror fighting the warmth. The heat was palpable, Zayn lay in bed fighting his body’s cries to wake for the day. The sun had progressed from a glint through the window to rays of light forcing their heat into the enclosed space. The sweat began to collect on Zayn’s brow, his escape of sleep had become an act of physical exertion.

__

 The air was stale, and the blanket was bunched and curled around a figure who was fighting for even a semblance of warmth. The cold pierced Liam’s skin, the air becomes invisible needles scraping across the surface it possesses. It was excruciating as the numbing temperature overcame Liam’s body. His muscles become stiff and his body begins to fight against his internal clock. The sun peeks beyond the heavy drape of the curtains, the heat emitted, lost in the very fabric meant to keep the light out.

__

 Liam was so far beyond the world they had created together and Zayn should have known that something like this wouldn’t last forever and Zayn knew that he and Liam were bound to go their separate ways, despite what Zayn wished would happen. They met in primary school, it was two boys in the beginning of an academic adventure, a long chapter in their lives, finding each other. It was two boys bonding over Green Lantern and Power Rangers and not bothered that everyone else thought they were weird. It was two boys relying on each other for protection, love, and friendship. It went from two boys to two teens, to two men who had never left each other even amidst the chaos of the world. It was Zayn and Liam or Liam and Zayn until it became Zayn and Liam and Liam’s resentment. They were kids then, young and dumb, and as they grew older, Zayn had always known that Liam would never be his true self here.

 Liam had ideas, big ideas, and Zayn had always supported him, the one fan in a world full of critics. They were best friends but Zayn knew Liam couldn’t be himself. Liam, a boy who claimed that until he left this town he could never be fully living. Liam, a boy with his head in the clouds and his heart set on a mere idea. That was Liam, so far beyond the world they had created together. But that was Liam before, before the harsh realities of everyday break down a dreaming boy and turn him into a cynical man. So, maybe, Liam never left, and maybe, Zayn had been selfish in reveling in it.

 Liam was so beyond their world but Zayn was still living in it.

__

 It was one fight, and Zayn was sure it didn’t mean a thing until it started to nag at him, every comment, every jab suddenly had immeasurable weight and it ripped him apart. He wasn’t alone but the only person he wanted there with him was causing his pain.

 It was one fight, and Liam was sure it meant the end of this very careful thing they had tried not to address. It was calculated to prevent either of them from realizing what was right in front of them. It was every look, every touch and it had exploded into longing stares and wanting embraces.

It was one fight and it should have been written off as a drunken mistake or a joke among two friends, two very good friends. Zayn knew he was wrong and he hadn’t expected Liam to reciprocate anything. Maybe it would have been easier if Liam had punched him or shoved him away. It just complicated things when Liam reached around to grab the back of Zayn’s head to deepen whatever it was that was happening.

__

 Zayn stands in the spray of the shower as his body cries out in relief. The chill of the water relaxes the muscles in his back and the tension in his arms falls away. After his shower, towel expertly wrapped around his torso, he walks to open the window. The touch of the wind as his skin breaks in goose bumps. He smiles.

__

 Liam jumps out of bed, his decision to sleep without a shirt becomes one of deep regret. He retreats to his closet and yanks on a sweater, his feet on the cold wood floors only make him quicken his pace to the refuge of the carpet in his living room. He basks in the heat emanated by the two windows overlooking his couch. He burrows in the comfort of the sweater, a sweater that upon further inspection turns out to not belong to Liam at all.

__

Zayn looks back at him, the sun kissing his skin through the sleeves of his shirt, the wind ruining his hair. He inhales, “What are we doing here, Liam?”

 

“I think we’re telling each other the truth,” Liam exhales deeply.

 

“I’m not sure I’ll tell you what you want to hear,” Zayn responds.

 

Liam stands there for a second, he looks at Zayn like he always has, “I don’t know what I want to hear,”.

**Author's Note:**

> If you got this far thanks for reading! Lemme know if you liked it, lemme know if you hated it, all are welcome. This was basically just an idea based on the fact that I woke up super hot one morning and then I woke up super cold the next and I made it into a fic. Gotta find inspiration wherever, Ya know? Thanks, again!


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